Nut allergy advice

[bornagineapig]

Hi mums, looking for some advice/support from those with experience of children with severe allergies. My son was recently diagnosed with a nut allergy after having what was classed as an anaphylactic reaction to some peanuts. We are currently working out whether he also has allergies to other nuts in addition to the peanuts.

I am feeling quite overwhelmed by this. I’ll admit i’m already quite an anxious person but having seen him struggling for breath i’m very scared about him having another severe attack. Due to the nature of the allergen it seems impossible to completely avoid risk of exposure ie soooo many things say ‘may contain nuts’. We are taking an epi pen with us wherever we go at the moment but scared about him going back to school where I can’t control as much what he is exposed to.

Id be grateful for any advice but in particular interested to get a view on the following:

• Obviously we are avoiding anything that explicitly contains nuts but do people with severe nut allergies tend to avoid anything which ‘may contain nuts’ as well or is this taking it too far? I guess these warnings on packaging are largely to cover manufacturers in case of cross contamination but am I right in saying the risk would be pretty low? I don’t want to put him a risk but also wary of scaring him even more than he already is by changing so much of his diet.
• What sort of procedures should I expect from the school? We have an epi pen to give them but currently struggling to make contact during the summer hols. Would be good to hear other’s experience so I have an idea of what to expect

I have an anaphylactic allergy (not nuts) and I don't eat 'may contain's. Only you, he and his doctors can make that call though and many do choose to eat 'may contain's.

He must have 2 epipens in reach (ie immediately available) at all times. Make sure to keep a note of their expiry dates, including the the school ones.

If you Google 'your LA name + school nursing' you should be able to find the nurse who has a responsibility for his school and be able to talk to them. School nursing team are ideally placed to put the right measures in place.

Anaphylaxis UK are a really good source of info and support.

My son is severely anaphylactic to all nuts ( plus other things)
We carry multiple epipens everywhere. School is a nut free place. Secondary school is a little more tricky and we’ve had one nasty airborne reaction on a coach but well dealt with by staff.
He doesn’t eat may contain traces but does eat made in a factory that handles nut products.
Our biggest learning curve was almond oil in beauty products.

It's so scary, my daughter's getting tested as well and its terrifying.

I work at a restaurant and although we don't have any nut products on the menu (not even in the bar) we can't advertise as being nut free as there's so much produce that we order in that says 'may contain nuts'. Such as the bread, soup mixture, ingredients for the brownies, some sauces and the list goes on.

If she does turn out to be allergic to all nuts (we know for 100% almond as she had a reaction to suncream) I don't feel I'll ever be comfortable with her eating out.

@bornagineapig

Hi

My ds has a nut allergy and has an Epiphen.

My son is 18 but we were aware of it when he was in primary.

The school office will be closed- assuming your son is in Primary, on the first day please go to The main office and make them aware of the allergy. They will probably ask you to complete a form.

They prefer having two epipen at school - so please ask your gp. My ds has finished secondary school but at that stage he carries it around with him.

Schools - as a H&S procedure they normally have staff strained on how to use them but you can always ask.

Schools are normally but free but if you are worried ask them but if you are worried pack lunches.

Make sure your dc gets tested yearly - things change! My ds is now only allergic to specific nuts.

It is worth getting prick test or if if you can blood test to find out what nuts he is allergic to. Initially I just avoided all nuts.

I hope this helps...

DH has an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts, tree nuts and sesame and avoids any "may contain" foods. But he does eat at restaurants that have the general "we cannot guarantee anything" warning.

We got our son into a medical trials to desensitise him from the peanut allergy. At your next outpatient appointment make sure you ask if there’s any trials happening and if you’re a kid can be included in them. children who have been involved in trials ultimately get set up and desensitisation programs. It was well worth it for us.

I have 2 epi pen carrying daughters and my youngest carries hers for peanut (she has other allergies too).
Are you under the paediatric allergy team? You should get blood and skin prick testing to check for other allergies. Peanuts are actually more similar to other legumes than to nuts, so worth getting the skin pricks to include some peas, beans and lentils too.
I know it's totally overwhelming at the beginning
The allergy team will also give you access to a dietician.

Sorry for the slow reply but thank you all so much for your information/advice. It’s lovely to hear from people who understand what we are going through. Back at school now and I have to say they have been very good so far, it’s a nut free environment so hopefully risk is minimal and they have lots of children going through the same thing, are fully trained etc. As some of you guessed he is in primary so trying to get the balance between getting him to take the allergy risk seriously whilst also not scaring him too much. I suspect I will be back here to you lovely people with some follow up questions once we have the full report from the hospital. Thanks again

Teenage son already has severe hayfever, now discovered through a blood test he has food allergies, trying ro decipher his blood test results. Nuts are grade 4 and 5, so will definitely be avoiding, he also a grade 2 for milk, egg white, soya, wheat - I don't know if this means he has to avoid those or reduce them in his diet? Have tried a few free from foods over the last 2 days and he hates lots of them, just feel he will end up not eating anything, so worried. Waiting to speak to gp for more info

I'm just browsing old posts as we have a recent nut allergy diagnosis. This sounds interesting. I see your post is from 2023 but wondered if you have an update
Many thanks

What tests did he have and what advice did the allergy clinic give?

Has he actually been reacting to the things he tested positive to?